Obama's jobs proposals at a glance

-Corporate taxes: Obama wants to reduce corporate taxes to 28 percent, but make them even lower, 25 percent, for manufacturers. He would achieve that by closing a series of corporate tax breaks and loopholes and by putting in place a minimum tax on offshore earning by American companies. Corporations have been asking for a system that would only tax foreign profits in the countries where the profits were earned. Obama also wants to extend and increase a tax credit for research and experimentation by 20 percent. White House officials say an overhaul of corporate taxes would not be designed to generate tax revenue and would be, in budget language, "revenue neutral." But officials nevertheless say that some corporate tax breaks, such as subsidies for oil and gas companies, could be closed and the resulting revenue used to avoid automatic spending cuts scheduled to kick in March 1.

-Increase the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 an hour by the end of 2015. Obama also would index future increases to inflation. This is new. The proposal is less than the $9.50 hourly wage he campaigned on in 2008. But White House aides say that refundable tax credits that Obama secured in 2009 are worth 75 cents an hour for a person who works full-time and has two children. They count that benefit in addition to the new proposed wage. Adjusted for inflation, the $9 minimum wage would be at the highest level since 1981, the White House says. As part of a broader plan for deficit reduction, Obama has said he would consider altering an inflation formula used to calculate government benefits, including Social Security cost-of-living increases. The proposed formula, if enacted, would mean smaller annual benefit increases and would apply to the minimum wage, according to officials

-Help more Americans refinance their mortgages at lower interest rates. With mortgage rates at historically low levels of about 3.5 percent, economists have urged the government to help people to take advantage by refinancing or qualifying for a new mortgage. Obama has previously taken steps to help those with mortgage loans insured by government-sponsored mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. His newest proposal would apply to those without Fannie or Freddie-backed mortgages. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, said the additional steps would help, but are "not a game changer for the housing market or economy."